Miklós Kásler - Zoltán Szentirmay (szerk.): Identifying the Árpád Dynasty Skeletons Interred in the Matthias Church. Applying data from historical, archaeological, anthropological, radiological, morphological, radiocarbon dating and genetic research (Budapest, 2021)

CHAPTER THREE – Archaeological, anthropological and radiological data

age data was accepted by Érys

working

group and used as proof of their hypothesis that the skeleton had been swapped.

The monograph edited by Éry

(which

is considered a fundamental work to this day) entitled “

A székesfehérvári királyi bazilika embertani leletei 1848-2002” [The

anthropological finds of the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár 1848-2002]

contains the anthropology working groups investigations, as well as those of the other disciplines, such as dentistry, radiology, the study of trace elements, studies of the blood type RHO and the antigen Rh(D), the study of the DNA mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium tuberculosis, and non-metric analysis of the skull bones. Samples were taken from the humerus bone of skeleton II/52_3 (see Figure 25) and sent to Germany for genetic analysis. This attempt, however, did not prove successful.

Érys book

(2008) contains an unbelievably large amount of anthropological measurement data in a table on page 219. Naturally, we will not attempt to expound the valuable insights of the book, but we do wish to discuss two details.

1 ) Figurative trepanation of Béla

Ill

’s skull

Éry and

her working group found that on Béla

Ill

’s cranial vault, at the intersection between the sutura

coronalis

and

sutura

sagittalis, on

the area of the ossified large fontanelle, there was a 9-mm diameter, 2-mm deep bone defect, which had no trace in the craniums inner surface, which was deemed to be a surgical intervention, a socalled figurative trepanation (a photo is included in Érys

work).

The intervention happened during the King’s life, moreover, during his adult life, since the edges were somewhat washed out due to the 83